Freedom of Information Act. (FOIA)

Sec. 1.
Pursuant
to the fundamental
philosophy of the American constitutional
form of government, it is declared to be the public policy of the State
of
Illinois that all persons are entitled to full and complete information
regarding the affairs of government and the official acts and policies
of
those who represent them as public officials and public employees
consistent
with the terms of this Act. Such access is necessary to enable the
people
to fulfill their duties of discussing public issues fully and freely,
making
informed political judgments and monitoring government to ensure that
it
is being conducted in the public interest.

You can use a FOIA request to obtain information from
any public entity in Illinois. Some information is excluded if it
is private. In Bowie v. Evanston
Community Consol.
School Dist. No. 65, (1989) the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that
schools
cannot refuse to supply the information just by saying it concerns
private
information; they must comply with requests if they can redact out the
personal and private information. In that case, the parents of
students
attending that district's schools sought the disclosure of standardized
test scores for students and a list of educational programs available
in
those schools. The school district was required to disclose record of
achievement
test scores under the FOIA in a masked and scrambled format.

For a complete discussion and analysis of the Act, see
the Attorney General memo: http://www.legis.state.il.us/legislation/ilcs/ch5/ch5act140.htmStudent Records:Ibata
v. Board of Education of Edwardsville Community School District No. 7,
No. 5-05-0092 (May 12, 2006) In this case, the
trial court was reversed because it dismissed the complaint of the
plaintiffs which alleged a violation of
the Student Records Act. The plaintiff, a parent of
disabled student, charged that the school failed to supply her
records. The trial court dismissed the case since the parent did
not
exhaust
administrative remedies. Although the Federal Indivduals with
Disabilities
Education Act
(IDEA) requires exhaustion of remedies, the Illinois Student Records
Act does not.
However, the school district was entitled to summary judgment
dismissing
a claimed violation of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities
Confidentiality Act and Student Records Act when District supplied its
attorneys with records, because attorneys must have access to records
in order to represent District. Further, the presence of records in a
developmental pediatrician's records is not sufficient to overcome
affidavits of District employees that they did not provide records to
pediatrician; and entitled District summary judgment on that count of
complaint.

(a) Each
participating agency shall permit parents to inspect and review any
education recordsrelating to their
children that are collected, maintained, or used by the agency under
this part.The agency shall
comply with a request without unnecessary delay and before any meetingregarding an IEP, or
any hearing pursuant to §§ 300.507 and 300.521- 300.528, and
in no casemore than 45 days
after the request has been made.***(b)(3) The right to
have a representative of the parent inspect and review the records.

FERPA - Federal
Education Rights and Privacy Act

This Act (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) provides

Parents or eligible students have the
right to inspect and review the student's education records maintained
by the school. Schools are not required to provide copies of records
unless, for reasons such as great distance, it is impossible for
parents or eligible students to review the records. Schools may charge
a fee for copies.

Parents or eligible students have
the right to request that a school correct records which they believe
to be inaccurate or misleading. If the school decides not to amend the
record, the parent or eligible student then has the right to a formal
hearing. After the hearing, if the school still decides not to amend
the record, the parent or eligible student has the right to place a
statement with the record setting forth his or her view about the
contested information.

Generally, schools must have
written permission from the parent or eligible student in order to
release any information from a student's education record. However,
FERPA allows schools to disclose those records, without consent, to the
following parties or under the following conditions (34 CFR §
99.31):

School officials with legitimate educational
interest;

Other schools to which a student is transferring;

Specified officials for audit or evaluation
purposes;

Appropriate parties in connection with financial
aid to a student;

Organizations conducting certain studies for or
on behalf of the school;

Accrediting organizations;

To comply with a judicial order or lawfully
issued subpoena;

Appropriate officials in cases of health and
safety emergencies; and

State and local authorities, within a juvenile
justice system, pursuant to specific State law.

The Federal Freedom Of Information Act
applies to Federal Agenies, and requires them to supply information:

(2) Each agency, in accordance with published rules, shall make
available for public inspection and copying--

(A) final opinions,
including concurring and dissenting opinions, as well as orders, made
in the adjudication of cases;

(B) those statements of
policy and interpretations which have been adopted by the agency and
are not published in the Federal Register;

(C) administrative staff
manuals and instructions to staff that affect a member of the public;

(D) copies of all records,
regardless of form or format, which have been released to any person
under paragraph (3) and which, because of the nature of their subject
matter, the agency determines have become or are likely to become the
subject of subsequent requests for substantially the same records; and